In its damning report, the Abbé Pierre Foundation attacks Macron’s government

The balance is heavy. In its 350-page annual report, the Abbé Pierre Foundation makes a damning remark about Emmanuel Macron’s five-year term. Between cuts on APL and social housing at half-mast, the organization regrets a “blindness of politicians” when the French need them most.

In barely ten years, the number of people on the streets, homeless or in slums, has doubled. In fact, it has tripled since the early 2000s, bringing their number to 300,000, the report recalls. The Abbé Pierre Foundation denounces a housing crisis that is not “inadequate consideration by political leaders”.

More specifically, the organization focuses directly on the current government. “Overall, it appears that housing has never been a priority for the executive during this mandate”she berates before concluding: “The poorest remain the forgotten of this five-year term. »

APL: the reform that will not go ahead

It must be said that the reform of the APL (rent allowance) has left its mark. Since 2018, they are no longer calculated on the income of two years ago, but on more recent resources. “In principle hardly debatable, (…) this reform mainly leads to losers”, the Foundation recalls. For example, in 2021, thanks to this new calculation, the state was able to save 1.1 billion euros in aid to the most precarious.

To remedy this state of affairs, the organization is proposing a re-evaluation of APL that may involve social minimums. These should be increased according to the Abbé Pierre Foundation up to 50% of the median income (900 euros per month) and made accessible to young people aged 18 to 25.

Stimulate social housing and reduce rents

As the uncertainty starts to get dangerous, the foundation reminds us that it’s ” there is an urgent need to restore perspectives” to the 4 million people who have no or poor housing.

In its 27th report, it denounces the decline in HLM production. While production reached 125,000 HLM approvals in 2017, it fell to 87,000 in 2020 and probably barely more in 2021. The report recommends building 150,000 to meet, at least in part, the demands of the 2.1 million households that waiting for social housing.

Finally, the Foundation calls for better surveillance of the real estate market to bring prices down. “Where it has been applied, rent control is beginning to prove its worth”, applauds the organization. For now, the experiment has been conducted in Paris, Lille and Lyon and will soon be introduced in Montpellier and Bordeaux.

A few months before the presidential elections, the foundation challenges the candidates with a number of proposals that it would like to adopt.

  • Relaunch of Housing First and Social Housing
  • Rent control
  • Social security housing
  • Eradication of energy sieves
  • Wealth Redistribution
  • National Agency for Office Works…

If necessary, prove that candidates have many levers to combat insecurity. The latter have also scheduled to respond to the report’s publication in the afternoon. For his part, Emmanuel Macron will speak in the morning to defend the results of his anti-poverty policy.

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